Sweet Science
A San Francisco chocolate maker that counts among its staff a former NASA technologist and a cacao expert with a degree in tropical botany, is betting that science will take chocolaty bliss to the next level. The company (pronounced “cho”) is distributing portable “flavor labs”—with thermometers, pH sensors, and other equipment—to cacao farmers in Peru so they can experiment with processing and fermentation to create higher-quality beans and command a better price. Meanwhile, at Tcho’s California factory, control settings on the chocolate-making equipment can be monitored remotely through an iPhone application. The proof is in the eating: All four cultivations—Fruity, Citrus, Nutty, and Chocolatey—produce complex flavors, but try the Citrus first for its balance of tartness and sweet zest.
